Island



(No Model.) I S. W. WARDWELL, Jr.

MANUFAGTURE 0F SHOES.

5' 3- Patented July 5, 1887 I 3 5.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SIMON W. \VARDl/VELL, JR, OF WVOONSOOKET, RI-IODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE \VARDWVELL SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MANUFACTURE OF SHOES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 365,888;clated July 5, 18817.

Application filed March i5, 1836.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Sutton W. WARDWELL, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Woonsocket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Mannfacture of Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of that class of shoes and boots in which outside welts are secured by fair-stitching to the outsoles; and my invention consists in cutting away the welt adjacent to or in forming the channel, so as to prevent the deflecting of the needle, insure the laying of the stitches within the groove formed in the welt, and close to the under side of the insole, and thereby prevent the exposing of the seam at the outside and the rocking of the outsole.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an enlarged section of a welt made in the ordinary manner; Figs. 2, 4, 5, and 6, sectional views illustrating the manufacture of shoes when using the ordinary welt. Fig. 3 is asection of myimproved welt. Figs. 7 and 8 are cross-sections illustrating the manufacture of shoes by the use of my improved welt. Figs. 9 and 10 are cross sections of welts, showing different ways'of making the grooves or channels and illustrato ing miy improvement.

In the ordinary method of making sewed shoes, and where the welts are secured outside the uppers, it is common to provide each welt A with a narrow rounded channel or groove, a, parallel to the edge of the welt, as shown in Fig. 1, and the welt is applied to the side of the upper, as shown in Fig. 2, and the welt,the upper 13, and the edge flange Z) of the insole O are secured together by transverse stiches, after which the portions below-the stitches are shaved off, and the outer sole, D, is secured by fair stitches on to the loose portion of the welt, which is turned down onto the face of the sole, as shown in Fig. 5. Owing to the form ofthe channel a, the latter is closed when the welt is bent, as is necessary to apply it to the side of the upper in the position shown in Fig. 2. As a consequence of this closing of the channel, which is intended to receive the line of 50 stitches,the1 iointof theneedle,instead of strik- Serial No. 195,312. (No model.)

ing the bottom of the channel at y and pass ing through the welt, upper, and flange b on the line 20, Fig. 2, is prevented flOll'l entering the channel to any extent, being deflected by the inclined face of the welt, so that it passes through the latter, the upper, and the flange upon the line 22, Fig. 2. As a result, the line of stitches t is laid at a considerable distance below the lower face of the insole, as shown in Fig. 4c, and the upper, instead of being crowded against the insole, lies loosely between the latter and the welt, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the seam may be frequently seen when the upper is drawn against the edge of the insole, as

shown in Fig. (3, a channel or recess r, being formed, which either exposes the seam or collects dirt, rendering the shoe unsightly in appearance. \Vhen the seam t is placed at some distance below the bottom of the insole, as results from the above-described mode of manu- 7e facture, there is necessarily left a considerable space between the insole and the top of the outsole, which, in fact, rests upon a projecting rib of considerable thickness, and rocks upon the latter, thereby tending to open the seam and to cause the boot to creak. These 0bjections may be obviated by laying the line of stitches within the groove and as close as possible to the under side of the insole, and in order to secure this result it is necessary to prevent the deflection of the needle, so that its point may strike the bottom of the groove. I effect this-by the use of a welt (shown in Fig.

3) in which the groove (1., instead of being in the form of a narrow channel, as in Fig. l, is flaring or open toward the mouth, so as not to be closed when the welt is bent when being secured to the insole,the groove being formed, preferably, so as to present one of its sides, 0,

at about right angles to the face of the welt, a and the other side 0' at an acute angle to the first. WVh'en a welt thus formed is applied to the side of the upper, as shown in Fig. 7, the needle will pass the inclined face 0' without being deflected, and its point will strike the 5 bottom of the groove at y, and will pass through the different thicknesses of material upon the line 20, so that the line of stitchest will lie close to the lower edge of the insole, and the welt will be drawn toward the edge of the insole,in IOO stead of toward the flange b, thus confining the upper against the insole with but little or no opportunity for play. As the line of stitches is so near to the under side of the insole, the rib formed by the connected parts will project but slightly below the bottom of the insole, and the outsole will lie close and without rocking, so that there will be no tendency to open the seam.

It will be obvious that the flaring groove or channel may be formed in different ways, Figs. 9 and 10, so as to keep it open for the entrance of the needle when the welt is bent, and so as to present an unobstructed passage for the needle through the different thicknesses of material upon a line running close to the under side of the insole.

WVithout limiting myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown, I claim-- I 1. A boot or shoe welt provided with a channel having sides which normally extend-from theirjunction outwardly at angles with each other, as shown and described. v

2. The combination, ina shoe, of an insole 25 having a flange, b, an upper lying against the flange, and a welt having a channel provided with plane sides that extend at an angle with each other, said welt lying against the upper and bent down and secured to the outsole, and 0 stitched to the flange by a series of stitches which connect the welt, upper, and flange of the insole upon -a line directly below the bottom of theinsole, and extending to the bottom of the groove in the welt, substantially as set 5 forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SIMON \V. \VARD\VELL, JR.

Vitnesses:

EVERETT O. LEwIs, G. E. BIsHor. 

